Note: Book descriptions provided by publishers were edited for space considerations. 

The profound implications of climate change to earth and human society raises important and difficult questions for individuals. Perhaps none are as close to this issue as those working in the ecological and oceanic sciences, who witness the damage to climatic and ecological systems in their scientific work.

Climate Anxiety refers to the fear, worry, or nervousness individuals experience due to the threat of climate change.

It may include feelings of unease about an uncertain future of extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and societal disruptions. In a world facing tremendous pressure on the environment, scholars and therapists are working to find human-centered approaches to researching and alleviating feelings of climate distress. 

Hatfield Marine Science Center and Guin Library are teaming up to provide resources to support scientists and students who face climate anxiety. This includes open forums for discussing these feelings with others, a book study about climate anxiety, and building library collections that help readers understand these difficult issues and how to respond. 

If you are struggling and need support, navigate to Mental Health Resources on the Resources page. 

"It's deeply painful to face what's happening on our planet right now ... Each one of us has the capacity to meet these challenges with the ingenuity and brilliance and bravery that we, as humans, have. We just need to cultivate the conditions, together."  

-Renee Lertzman, Royal Roads University, British Columbia, Canada.

Popular media has begun confronting the impacts of climate change, including the human impacts. Below, is a list of podcasts and other resources that help make sense of this phenomenon. 

• Climate Change and Happiness Podcast

  An eco-theologian and climate psychologist talke about climate emotions and how to deal with them

• Eco-Anxious Stories: Resource Library

• Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance

  Throughout the report are six essays from mental health professionals that dive into particular topics of expertise on mental
  health and climate change. American Psychological Association, March 2017

• NJEF From Despair to Empowerment

  In this special session led by Ayesha Ercelawn, the Nature Journal Educator’s Forum explores how we as educators process anxiety and grief about environmental damage. In order to help our students work through their feelings and reactions, we first have to know how to take care of ourselves and honor our own feelings around this overwhelming topic.

• Speaking of Psychology: How to Copey with climate anxietty

  Episode 138 — How to cope with climate anxiety, with Thomas Doherty, PsyD, and Ashlee Cunsolo, PhD

Note: This list of media compiled at West LA College - https://libguides.wlac.edu/c.php?g=1309792&p=9626616]

Find books, online scholarly articles or newspaper articles that OSU subscribes to.  If you need to find specific items, such as books by a particular author, use the advanced search option for more precise searching. Access 1Search from the library's home page. https://guin.library.oregonstate.edu/

Eco-anxiety and climate anxiety are widely discussed in contemporary media and are subjects of growing research interest (Pihkala, 2020).

The question of human mental suffering amidst a widespread ecological disaster is an active area of research across many disciplines. Some authors describe testing therapeutic interventions for relieving individuals. Others suggest that taking direct action is the anecdote. Some writers contend that climate anxiety is a question about mental health (climate psychology), while others approach it as a sociological phenomenon (climate change sociology). (We've compiled a short bibliography, here: Bibliography to get started.)

Finding current literature about climate anxiety is similar to other scholarly questions. Importantly, consider your keywords before beginning a search. Other related terms include "eco grief" and "climate despair." The latter describes feelings of sadness and hopelessness in the face of ecological loss. 

In general terms, climate anxiety is a "human dimension" question, that is, a question that is related to another field of research but is concerned with the impacts on people. OSU's 1Search is a great place to begin your search if you want to dive deeper into the literature on climate anxiety.